The Liberal’s Anti Gun Echo Chamber

The Trudeau government’s echo chamber on gun control insists disarming civilians will stop violent crime. That’s the problem with echo chambers – those inside the chamber hear only those opinions they already agree with – they can’t hear anything else.

That deafness only intensifies when governments appoint fellow echo chamber members to “advise” them, as with the federal Department of Public Safety’s Firearms Advisory Committee.

Ralph Goodale, in appointing members to his “new and improved” Firearms Advisory Committee, ensured the committee would tell him what Trudeau’s government wanted to hear. And what the Trudeau Liberals want to hear is their 2015 election platform of lies echoed back to them.

Only 10 of 15 seats on the committee are filled. Yet Trudeau’s Liberals refuse to allow a representative from the CSSA or any other hunting and sport shooting organization to sit at the table.

Why talk to gun experts, the people directly affected by any legislative change? For starters, they will tell you what’s wrong with the law. They’ll provide evidence of what doesn’t work.

The Liberals don’t want to hear that, of course. There are no votes in creating evidence-based policy, Justin Trudeau’s stated position notwithstanding.

Andrew Lawton, in an August 11, 2017, Global News commentary, asked “Where are the gun advocates on the federal government’s firearms advisory committee?”

Given that half the members of the committee are directly connected to the intellectually bankrupt Coalition for Gun Control, it’s a valid question.

Vice-chair Nathalie Provost, spokesperson for the anti-gun group PolySeSouvient, heads the list. Tim Naumetz, writing for iPolitics.ca on October 5, 2017, explained how PolySeSouvient is taking advantage of Provost’s position to curry favour with the Minister.

“Poly Remembers, or PolySeSouvient in French, sent a 21-page brief to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale in June that contained nine recommendations for specific action and legislative change that would curb sales of handguns and semi-automatic assault-style rifles which have spiked by nearly 50 per cent over the past six years.”

The rabidly anti-gun Nathalie Provost is joined on the Firearms Advisory Committee by:

Suzanne Jackson, chair of the Board at the Canadian Public Health Association (a member of Coalition for Gun Control);

Paul Pageau, president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (a member of Coalition for Gun Control);

Paulette Senior, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Women’s Foundation (and former head of the YWCA when it was a member of Coalition for Gun Control);

Clive Weighill, Past President of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (a member of Coalition for Gun Control)

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel sponsored a petition requiring every member of the Liberal’s Firearms Advisory Committee to obtain their Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) so they could experience firsthand how Canada’s strict firearm control system works.

Of course, the petition fell on deaf ears and was treated with the same contempt firearms owners have come to expect from the Liberal Party of Canada. Ralph Goodale’s office defended the decision, telling Andrew Lawton requiring committee members to obtain their PALs “would be too triggering for committee vice-chair Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the massacre at Montreal’s Polytechnique school, to learn about the firearms she wants to ban.”

Seriously?

That absolutely nukes the credibility, not only of the Firearms Advisory Committee, but the entire Liberal firearms control program.

When committee members refuse to learn about the very issue on which they are tasked with advising government, well, that’s the very definition of an anti-gun echo chamber, isn’t it?

Lynda Kiejko, the other vice-chair of the committee, is a dedicated competition shooter with her sights set on an Olympic medal. She is one of just two people on the Firearms Advisory Committee with experience in firearms. In a 2016 interview with TheGunBlog.ca, she said:

“If someone has the intent to do something dangerous, having a rule in place isn’t really going to stop them. It’s hard for me to say what the solution is, but it is tough when we have laws that make it harder for us to enjoy the sport that we love, and to introduce new people to it.”

We hope her lone voice brings that same common sense to the table for committee meetings. It’s the only hope Canadian gun owners have against the Liberal government’s anti-gun echo chamber.

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